Table 4.
The improvement of oral symptom scores before and after oral care interventions in end-of-life patients with advanced cancers
| End-of-life patients (n = 27) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral care interventions | ||||||||
| Pre-intervention | Post-intervention | |||||||
| Day 1 | Day 4 | Day 7 | Cochran’s Q test | Friedman test | ||||
| n (%)/ Median (IQR) | p | p | ||||||
| Oral conditions | ||||||||
| Mucosa healthiness | ||||||||
| Mucositis | ||||||||
| (+) | 47.1%a | 11.8%b | 0.0%b | 0.003* | ||||
| (−) | 52.9% | 88.2% | 100.0% | |||||
| Candida infection | ||||||||
| (+) | 68.8%a | 37.5%b | 43.8% | 0.015* | ||||
| (−) | 31.3% | 62.5% | 56.3% | |||||
| Oral bleeding | ||||||||
| (+) | 17.6% | 5.9% | 0.0% | 0.097 | ||||
| (−) | 82.4% | 94.1% | 100.0% | |||||
| Oral moisture | ||||||||
| Oral dryness | ||||||||
| SOD | 41.2% | 35.3% | 29.4% | 0.741 | ||||
| NOD | 58.8% | 64.7% | 70.6% | |||||
| Sensation of oral dryness | ||||||||
| (+) | 63.6%a | 27.3% | 9.1%b | 0.009* | ||||
| (−) | 36.4% | 72.7% | 90.9% | |||||
| Oral cleanliness | ||||||||
| Oral debris | ||||||||
| Severe | 52.9%a | 5.9%b | 11.8%b | 0.001* | ||||
| Mild | 47.1% | 94.1% | 88.2% | |||||
| Tongue coating index | 0.3 | (0.3–0.7) | 0.3 | (0.1–0.3) | 0.2 | (0.1–0.5) | 0.065 | |
| General oral assessment | ||||||||
| OHAT at initial examination | ||||||||
| Total scores | 7.0 | (6.0–9.0)a | 3.0 | (1.0–4.0)b | 2.0 | (0.0–4.0)b | < 0.001* | |
| Lips | 1.0 | (1.0–2.0)a | 0.0 | (0.0–0.5)b | 0.0 | (0.0–0.0)b | < 0.001* | |
| Tongue | 1.0 | (1.0–1.5)a | 1.0 | (0.0–1.0) | 1.0 | (0.0–1.0)b | 0.003* | |
| Gums and tissues | 2.0 | (1.5–2.0)a | 1.0 | (1.0–1.0)b | 1.0 | (1.0–1.0)b | < 0.001* | |
| Saliva | 1.0 | (1.0–2.0)a | 1.0 | (0.0–1.0) | 1.0 | (0.0–1.0)b | 0.001* | |
| Natural teeth | 1.0 | (0.0–2.0) | 1.0 | (0.0–2.0) | 1.0 | (0.0–2.0) | 1.000 | |
| Dentures | 0.0 | (0.0–2.0) | 0.0 | (0.0–1.5) | 0.0 | (0.0–1.5) | 0.368 | |
| Oral cleanliness | 1.0 | (1.0–2.0)a | 1.0 | (0.0–1.0) | 1.0 | (0.0–1.0)b | 0.002* | |
| Dental pain | 0.0 | (0.0–0.0) | 0.0 | (0.0–0.0) | 0.0 | (0.0–0.0) | 0.368 | |
| Oral function | ||||||||
| Voice | ||||||||
| Abnormal | 82.4% | 76.5% | 70.6% | 0.549 | ||||
| Normal | 17.6% | 23.5% | 29.4% | |||||
| Swallow | ||||||||
| (+) | 62.5% | 81.3% | 81.3% | 0.165 | ||||
| (−) | 37.5% | 18.8% | 18.8% | |||||
| MMO | 3.5 | (2.5–4.0) | 3.0 | (2.0–3.8) | 3.0 | (3.0–3.5) | 0.731 | |
Data are (%) or median (IQR)
Abbreviations: IQR interquartile range, NOD Nonsevere Oral Dryness, SOD Severe Oral Dryness, OHAT Oral Health Assessment Tool, MMO Maximum Mouth Opening
a, bDifferent upper case letters denote significant differences (p < 0.05) between groups by Cochran’s Q (asymptotic significances) / Friedman test (asymptotic significances) and their correspondent post hoc comparisons